Self-Symbolizing and the Neglect of Others' Perspectives

In the present pair of studies interpersonal cues were set up, prompting selfdescriptions that would be in potential conflict with subjects' self-definitional needs. It was hypothesized that self-definitional needs would hinder subjects' responding to the interpersonal aspects of the situation. In both studies subjects committed to a certain self-definition (e.g., female professional, journalist, mathematician) were given feedback that their personality did or did not predispose them to be successful in their self-definitional realms. Subsequently, in a different context, subjects had to compete in expressing positive self-descriptions that were related or unrelated to their self-definitions (Experiment 1). Subjects given negative personality feedback dominated the competition, provided that the self-descriptions were related to the self-definition to which they felt committed. In Experiment 2, male subjects were asked to report on their standing in their self-definitional realms to an attractive female target person, after she had indicated a preference for either self-deprecating or self-aggrandizing self-descriptions. Subjects given positive personality feedback were more self-deprecating than subjects who received negative personality feedback, given the presence of a cue to be selfdeprecating. In addition, positive feedback subjects complied with the selfpresentational cue set by the target person in proportion to their attraction to her, whereas negative feedback subjects failed to do so. The results are discussed in terms of a recent notion of symbolic self-completion (Wicklund & Gollwitzer, 1982) and in terms of other views on the self.